Lily's heart
by Lilyheart House
Summary: It's the First Wizarding War. Snape has turned sides, but Voldemort has found out his true alliance. How? And who will save Severus Snape?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I own none of these characters._

—

He had found out. The moment I walked in the door, I heard shouts of 'traitor' and 'Snape'. The moment I was about to go back, as quietly as I could, Voldemort turned around. He hissed my name and for hours after that, the world was only a mix of curses and pain.

Eventually, they stopped and threw me into the dungeon of Riddle's father's mansion. Most people who went in there never saw daylight again.

—+++++—

Now I was running for my life. I had just knocked out the Death Eater who had come to retrieve me, likely for another torture session, and grabbed his wand. 'If they think I'm going to just lie down like a dog and let them do what ever Riddle wants to do, they're stuffed.'

Every Death Eater would be waiting in whatever room I was supposed to be in, waiting maliciously for their next victim.

'Well, they'll be disappointed." I thought as I spotted an open window. I looked outside, it was ground level now. I jumped out and ran as fast as I could towards the outside of the line where I could apparate away.

Just as I was about to get over, I heard a shout and a red light encased me. A sudden, flashing pain erupted in my midsection. Light danced before my eyes. Suddenly, I felt the power of the wards lift.

I felt the familiar squeezing sensation as I apparated. 'The Ministry'. The Ministry's entrance was the last thing I saw as it flashed before me.

…Lily's POV…

Me and James were walking to work, still half-asleep, with Sirius. Being an auror was harder than we had both originally thought.

Suddenly, a man appeared almost right in front of us and collapsed.

"Mate." Sirius said. "I think that fella's hurt badly."

Me and James both rushed to his side. He was muttering a string of barely distinguishable words. Every so often, I'd catch the words 'Death Eaters', 'Kill' or 'Dumbledore'.

I gasped as I saw the blood flowing from his side. I looked over to his face, covered by black hair…no. It couldn't be.

"There he is!" A shout sounded behind me.

I felt a shield charm protecting me.

"James." He looked at me, reading my mind and nodded, putting his arms around the man's shoulders and lifted him up. I grabbed the legs, and held them, and with the help of James, started to get him into the lift.

"Sirius, Ministry!" Me and James yelled simultaneously, both worried about him.

I felt a rush of air and dog panting come closer and closer. I dialled in the number to the ministry at light speed, and hovered over the last number, waiting for Sirius to get in.

All of a sudden, a fur ball barrelled into James. I pressed the last button and let out a sigh of relief as the protective shields went up around the box as it descended to the Ministry.

Shouts and banging came from outside.

"That could've gone worse." James exclaimed.

"Let's see whose behind we just saved." Sirius mentioned, looking at the curtain of hair.

"Then we can do the procedure." I remarked. The procedure was much less important or time-consuming than it's name stated, or it could be more time-consuming, depending on whose left arm you were checking. In this case, a wizard who was out was going to be very quick.

I was pulled from my suspicions by James cautiously lifting the hair with his wand. As soon as the hair wasn't hiding the face anymore, he growled and ripped up the wizard's left sleeve. There it was, the Dark Mark.

All of a sudden, Snape stirred.

—

 _Author's note: Constructive criticism is welcome. Have a good day! By the way, this will be one one my stories that I won't update as much until I've finished at least one of the other stories- it's a low priority._


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except for the two children and their parents._

—

…Snape's POV… as he lies, unconscious

"Snape, do it!"

"I.. I can't."

"I will kill you." Rodolphus Lestrange snarled at me.

"You go ahead, I… I just need a moment." I replied.

"Okay Severus, c'mon guys, give him a break." Regulus, my closest friend, or colleague amongst the Death Eaters, exclaimed. He looked back at me as the others got ready to apparate. "Just be back within half a hour."

I nodded, scarcely believing my luck. Come to think of it, I had been getting a lot of it recently.

As soon as they had apparated, I started out towards the house they had just ransacked.

I had hidden the two children in the cupboard in their room, whilst I was sent to murder them. I had known I couldn't murder them, even if the Death Eaters' request for their parents had been turned down.

In a way, I respected their parents, Fortis and Holli Arbor, for turning down the request, or order. I still remembered the night I had been taken away for the Death Eaters.

 _I was lying in my bed. I was of age now, well, in the wizarding world anyway. Lily and Potter were going to be aurors, and even though I didn't want to repeat another day with Potter, I certainly didn't want to be a Death Eater. I never want to have to face Lily on different sides of the battlefield._

 _Suddenly, a pound rattled the front door._

" _Boy! Get down here now!"_

 _I hurried down the steps, afraid for what would happen next._

" _Is it one of your friends?" My dad spat at me._

" _I don't know." I stated, trying to act brave._

" _Useless brat!" He shouted, and threw me into the old, 6 hour late grandfather clock._

 _I tried to protect my face as the shards of glass fell around me. I felt the gong slap the wood at the back of the clock as my overly thin body smashed into it._

 _I heard the front door being opened. Shortly after, my father's voice sounded again._

" _Sure, he's right here."_

 _I cowered in fear at the sound of his voice. Nothing that could make that bullying tyrant of a father sound so happy could be a good thing._

 _All of a sudden, I was dragged from the wreck by cloaked, masked figures. Death Eaters. I tried to scream, but my mouth had gone dry. The last thing I saw and heard was Lucius, stunning me, and my father cackling how glad he was to get rid of me._

 _Everything went black._

I had gotten to the boy's door. I silently removed the wards that I had placed on their door, should anyone else walk in.

"Boys."

After waiting a few seconds, a face appeared from the cupboard door, and then shortly after, a leg, and then the rest of them.

Eventually, they both looked up at me, looking like they were trying to be brave. They looked like they were nearly of Hogwarts age, only about two years apart.

"Now, I'm just going to take you to Hogwarts. A man will be able to help you there."

"Will he look like you?" The smallest child asked me.

"No, but he can still help you."

"Promise?"

I paused for a second. Then I realised that I couldn't give them false hope, even if I was sure that Dumbledore, the new headmaster, would take them in.

"I'm sure that he will, but I'm afraid that I can't give any promises."

The boys looked at me pleadingly.

"This is war, even now, I'm betraying my own side."

"But you're the good guys in the war. You saved us." The older boy piped up.

I sighed. I'd hoped it would never come to this. "I need to show you something."

As we went to the living room of the family, the youngest burst into tears.

There lay the boy's parents, dead, their glassy eyes staring into space.

"This is what my side is. Murderers, mostly pure-bloods, called Death Eaters."

Both boys stared up at me in shock, tears flowing down their young cheeks.

"Promise me that you will never, never join this side."

Both boys nodded, fear and anger flashing in their eyes.

"Now hold my hand, I'll apparate you to Hogwarts."

The oldest gripped my hand with a vice-like grip. After a moment, the second boy grasped the wrist of my second hand.

As I stirred into consciousness, a lone tear tracked down my present body's face as the memory ended.

—

 _Thanks for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. Thanks to everyone who reviews! Means a lot!_

 _Warning: description of torture. Not too graphic, but torture all the same._

—

A door slammed.

I snapped awake. I tried to stretch, but found myself bound to the bed with thick, magical cords wrapped around me, like a sheep ready to be slaughtered.

"So you're awake now."

I turned my head, looking in the direction of the noise. Potter.

"We've got a few questions to ask you, Snape."

I growled. I wasn't going to answer to him.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Potter stated, venom starting to drip into his voice.

"And what's the hard way?" I sneered at him, goading him to do his worst.

"This. Crucio!"

I immediately felt like burning, iron tipped daggers were forcing themselves deeper and deeper into my body, seeking out every sensitive part, and burning it. Invisible flames licked my bones.

After barely a minute, Potter stopped, and frowned at me. "We were told that we could use any method to make you reveal any information."

"Is that the best you can do?" I sneered at him, ignoring the involuntary jerks, the after effects of the Cruciatus Curse.

Suddenly, Lily appeared behind Potter. She looked sad, her eyes downcast, as if trying to stay away from me. "They're ready."

"Thanks Lily." They hugged.

I looked away, not wanting to cause myself more pain or grief.

"Follow me." I heard Lily say, and the ropes dropped away, allowing me to get up.

I got up and followed her and Potter, like a defeated man. I scolded myself for this show of weakness, and raised my head, feeling all the time like I was trying to hold up 200 kilograms.

—+++++—

Eventually, we arrived.

About 5 more Aurors stood there, around a very strange looking steel bed.

I felt my eyes widen and my heart stared beating extremely fast. They really were going to torture me! It wasn't just a threat!

"Lie down." A scratchy voice told me.

I walked over, my legs shaking, too scared to disobey.

As soon as I lay down, iron cuffs encircled my wrists, ankles and neck. I started to struggle, but the iron kept me down, restricting any large movements.

"Alright Snape, where is You-Know-Who's base?"

'Oh no.' I couldn't answer this one. Voldemort moved his meeting place, even for private meetings, every time! There was no place they had visited twice!

"I said," the questioning auror growled at me, "where is You-Know-Who's base?"

"I don't know, I swear, he changes the place we meet… ahhhhh!" I gave in and screamed, the iron was turning red-hot.

"I'll give you one last chance Snape."

"Ask Dumbledore! I told him everything!"

"As if I'd buy your lies! Now tell me where is Voldemort's base!" He shouted at me, spit flying onto my face.

They were impossible. I'd have to lie. "Riddle Mansion!" I screamed out, desperate for the burning sensation to go away. I had heard of a Riddle Mansion before, and Voldemort's last name was Riddle, so Riddle seemed the most likely one that they'd buy. The house isn't used anymore, either.

"Good."

The iron returned to it's dormant state.

"You can release him now."

I looked up feebly as soon as the restraints had disappeared. Lily had tears coursing down her face and Potter looked disgusted, as if he had just found a chewed piece of gum underneath his foot.

Then I passed out.

—

 _Thanks for reading!_

 _Bonjour! French for hello/goodbye._


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. Thanks to everyone who reviews! Means a lot!_

— _-_

I lay in a hard bed, my torso, my arms and lower legs free. I groaned, the burns still blistering with insufferable heat.

"You're awake." I heard someone say next to me.

I blanched as I realised that one, someone was beside me, and two, I couldn't see due to a piece of cloth that was covering my eyes, restricting my sight to only it's inside fabric.

I gave a weak cry of fear. I didn't care anymore. I didn't want to have to be the spy anymore, You-Know-Who had found out, there was no more point. 'The problem is,' I thought, 'They didn't believe me when I told them that I had told Dumbledore everything. Well, this seems like a new person, so maybe I could chance a meeting with him now?'

"Dumbledore."

"Excuse me?" The shocked voice came back to me.

"Can I see Dumbledore, please?" The last word was bitter on his tongue. 'I'll have to get better at social etiquette if I want to get anywhere here.'

"Why of course," The person's, sounding most like a woman's, came back to my ears again. "I will go get him now."

Shortly after the footsteps faded away, I felt strong arms grasp me.

"There you are, you can't escape forever, little Snape."

'No! It can't be!'

I screamed as I was sucked back into the world of Death Eaters.

—-

Hi! Sorry for being so late to get back!

Have a good day, and constructive criticism is always helpful!


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters(except Rodstern).Thanks to everyone who reviews! Means a lot!_

—

…Lily's POV…

I rushed to the scene, two aurors flanking me.

There had been a kidnapping in St. Mungo's. We hadn't recieved much information, as the alert system had only said 'Kidnapping' on the dot 'St Mungo'.

The two aurors were there to take Severus Snape to a holding cell, where the Death Eaters that had so quickly broken the few wards that St. Mungo's had, would not be able to break him out. I, however, was the backup. Again.

I rounded the last corner to Sever… no. Snape's part of the wizarding hospital.

I stood back as the two aurors in front of me started pushing through the thick crowd.

I counted the two minutes before I could go in, curious about why there were so many people there.

I tried not to jump when someone brushed past me. I hadn't realised how tense I was. I loosened up as I counted the last second away and slipped into the crowd.

—+++++—

I arrived at Snape's bed and looked around for the two aurors, Kingsley and Rodstern, and eventually spotted them talking to two different healers.

I looked around and saw a healer in the shadows.

I walked over to her.

"It's all my fault. It's all my fault." She was whispering under her breath.

I coughed and introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Lily Potter. What's your name?"

The lady, who looked around 24, glanced up at me before answering, "Pandora."

"After the Greek myth?" I exclaimed, my eyes widening.

"Yes. My parents both loved Greek myths, and in their footsteps, so do I. My dad was from Greece before he moved to Britain, where he met my mum."

"You don't happen to have a box, do you?" I laughed, happy that someone in the wizarding world knew and loved Greek myths as well.

"Or a bug called Hope?" She replied, smiling cheekily.

We both giggled, forgetting the situation.

Suddenly I remembered. "Oh! Sorry, but I'm an auror and I was just sent here to find Severus Snape. He's a Death Eater, and…"

"Didn't you know?" Pandora said, her eyes starting to get teary, "he was the one who was kidnapped. And I was in charge of him."

"What?!" I shouted at her.

"I'm sorry!" Pandora squeaked as the faces near us turned.

"You were in charge of him?!" I exclaimed, letting my voice drop to a whisper, in a vain attempt to make the spectators look away.

"He asked for Dumbledore, and I left him."

"You left without anyone to guard him?"

"Yes?" Pandora replied meekly.

I took a deep breath, then let it out, barely suppressing my anger towards this naïve girl before answering, "Was there anything else he said, or did before this?"

"Well," Pandora started.

"Yes, go on."

"The last thing I heard that came from his bed space was a scream and a crack."

'Why would someone scream?'

"Was there anyone else near his bed, any people that were in the room next to him?"

"No, we cleared away anyone near him. We only heard that he was dangerous, not a Death Eater! We just presumed that he was a werewolf or didn't have control over his limbs, or something, anything else!" She explained, her face starting to go purple. "Now I'm probably going to be fired!"

"It's a rookie's mistake. I'm sure they'd let you off this once."

"You… you really think so?"

"I really do." I replied.

"Thank goodness." Pandora whispered to me as she wiped her hands over her eyes, wiping away the tears that had tracked down her face, "I didn't want to go through three years of medi-witch training to get fired within the first year!"

I smiled back at her. "Thanks for talking with me, Pandora."

"You too." She replied, sniffing.

—

 _Just did a swimming carnival…phew! Now that's done and dusted, let's write!_

 _Constructive criticism is always helpful!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I own none of the to everyone who reviews! Means a lot! Btw, it's still Lily's POV._

—

All of a sudden, everything went quiet.

I looked around and saw Dumbledore, James and Sirius.

Less than a minute later, a young boy rushed in, looking like a rabbit that wasn't running fast enough.

"Sir, Professor Dumbledore!" The boy shouted through the silence.

Dumbledore spun around, his robes narrowly missing the boy's stomach. As the boy started to get up, Dumbledore reached for the letter the boy had dropped in his fall. He tore the black envelope open, and almost as soon as he had unfolded the letter his eyes darkened.

—+++++—

At least five minutes must have passed by the time anyone moved. It was James. "Dumbledore? What is it?"

"Follow me. And bring your wife and friend too."

I started towards them, as James turned around to look for me. I gave him a tiny wave and then began walking at a faster pace.

His eyes almost immediately caught mine, and he waited until I had reached him, before turning around to follow Dumbledore next to the fireplace.

"Go to my office." Dumbledore whispered to us.

As we each stepped in and whispered our destination to the fire, the green flames seemed to get more and more vicious. A lion trapped in a cage.

…Snape's POV…

As soon as we hit solid ground, my face was stuffed into the ground, blocking my eyes, nose and mouth. I felt my hands being tied behind my back, as well as my legs and tried not to gasp with the strain. After that had been completed, I felt a long stick being shoved under my bound hands and feet.

I was lifted up, and as soon as I began to breathe through my mouth, a rough piece of material was shoved into it, and secured with another tied at the back of my head. Another thick strip of material was tightened over my eyes, once again blocking my senses. I tried hard not to choke as I was bumped up and down.

—+++++—

I was in a celler.

I had lost count of the days, and all I wished was to escape.

Long, blood streaked lines criss-crossed my back, caused by a cursed whip. My hands and feet shaking so hard that I was afraid that they would fall off. Broad chains weighed me down, restricting my movements to only kneeling on the wall.

Not a single word had been issued from my mouth from the first time I was thrown at Bellatrix Lestrange and Riddle's feet by Yaxley and his cronies. However, my lips were beginning to part, my body even resisting my brain. I was going to go mad.

Suddenly, a beam of light hit the floor and Lestrange's annoyingly high-pitched baby voice came to me. "Come to play!"

—

 _Hope the chapter was worth waiting for! CC welcome! Please review! Thanks, Guest, for telling me to do longer chapters, I actually really agree with you! :)_


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters._

 _AN: I'm so sorry! My mind was on other things, and this chapter, as well as my other fanfics were on the other side of the abyss. But hey! I'm writing it now!_

—

Suddenly, a beam of light hit the floor and Lestrange's annoyingly high-pitched baby voice came to me. "Come to play!"

I whimpered and shrunk back against the wall, trying to encase myself in the sucking, endless darkness.

"Is Snapey scared?" Bellatrix shrieked in glee, still putting on her baby voice.

She moved closer and closer, her robes beginning to made a menacing hiss as they swept the floor behind her.

"Cruico!"

I screamed as the bolt of light hit me, my mind going out of my control, my body feeling like it was on fire. The dark fire crept further and and further inside me, until I could feel it licking my bones.

Suddenly, it stopped.

"Now tell me, Snape," Lestrange snarled, contempt laced into her voice, "where is the Order's base?"

I looked up at her, fighting the madness beginning to bubble inside of me. With equal contempt, I replied, "I wouldn't tell you even if I did know it."

The last few words were squeezed out of me, as the new favourite torture device of the Death Eaters emerged.

The lash broke down on me, again and again, slicing my skin until blood gushed out. I fell over, my blood-deprived legs and arms not able to support me any longer.

My body began to go limp and my sight began to dim. I heard a voice in my ear.

"It will all be over if you only tell me where the Order of the Phoenix's base is."

'It'll be over when I'm dead.' I thought.

"Never." I whispered, my body not strong enough to say any more.

The presence seemed to draw away with my consciousness.

The sound of shattered glass was heard next to me and a soothing liquid disinfected my wounds. "Wouldn't want you dead yet, now would we?" I heard Lestrange say, her voice between a hiss and a snarl.

The world around me came into focus as the cell door slammed. The empty grey walls brought little comfort as I let go of my consciousness and fell into the blissful, dark abyss.

…(on a slightly lighter note)Lily's POV…

We stumbled over the bricks surrounding the fireplace.

After we had composed ourselves, we looked up to Dumbledore, who was standing next to Fawkes, his companion, or 'spirit animal', as some people liked to call him.

"What is it, Dumbledore?" I asked.

"What does it say?" Sirius and James said simultaneously. They turned to each other, grinned childishly and high fived.

I looked at them, one eyebrow raised slightly.

A small smile seemed to grace Albus' lips before the old man was back. "I assume you know of our spy in Voldemort's flanks?"

I inwardly flinched before answering with the other two. "Yes."

"I also assume you never knew the spy's name, nor his other information?"

"Yes-" I answered, before the two boys looked at me, two large grins on their faces.

"What?"

They looked at Dumbledore before looking back at me. "It's a he."

I stopped for a second, before remembering our bet. I felt my face grow darker. "It could have been a lady."

The boy's victorious laughter rang around Dumbledore's study. They danced around me in a circle, all the time singing that they were right, they were right.

"The spy was discovered by Voldemort in the last few days."

We all froze.

"You mean," James gulped, "he's dead?"

"Our spy told me, prior his kidnap, that if he was discovered, he would not be killed straight away."

I turned green, and James moved closer to me, his Gryffindor protection instinct emerging.

"Who is it, may I ask?" James said in a strained voice.

Dumbledore looked at him, his eyes a dark, stormy blue. "Severus Snape."

—

 _Thanks guys for reading this! Once again, I'm sorry for not posting this sooner, but I hope that this chapter was worth waiting for. Have a great day everyone!_

 _By the way, I'm thinking of doing a 'choose your own adventure', where you are a spy against Voldemort. Any ideas would be welcome, and please also state a pen name/internet name, so that I can give a shoutout to you when I release the story._


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters._

—

"What!"

"Ow, my ear." I hissed at James.

"Sorry," he whispered back, then turning back to Dumbledore, "it can't be him, we saw him…"

"Any information would be welcome James."

James stood there, his sceptical face facing Dumbledore.

I spoke up. "It's just, we saw him."

"When?"

"Around two or three days ago."

Dumbledore now looked older than his age. He sat heavily down in his large seat, placing his cupped hands over his face.

"We'll try to send out search parties." James said, looking at Sirius and me.

"Will do." I replied.

++…1 week passes…++

…Snape's POV…

Pain. Darkness. Pain.

The eternal cycle of suffering strung itself into my day, shattering all hope.

Out of the darkness, voices grew louder and louder. I perked up, those sounds weren't of a malicious torturer, they were of frightened men.

Avery, Crabbe and Goyle rushed into my cell, closely followed by Lucius Malfoy.

I growled at him as he moved closer and the rough hands of Crabbe and Goyle grabbed my arms and pulled me up, their grip tightening until I was sure that the blood circulation had been cut off.

"They're still at the entranceway." Avery exclaimed, rushing back.

I looked at Malfoy, my eyes full of hatred. 'I thought he was my friend. What a fool I was.'

They stuffed my mouth full of cloth and tightened a long, thick strip of rough cloth over my eyes.

They began to pull me to what I assumed was the door. I slowed down their movement as much as I had when there had been a Death Eater meeting.

"Severus, could you hurry?" Malfoy said, his voice speaking very close to my left, feigning the friend that was never there.

Unable to reply, I kicked in the direction of the voice, and was rewarded with a grunt of pain.

"Why you insufferable…" Malfoy hissed.

I felt a punch to my stomach and I doubled over in pain, the air driven out of my lungs and prevented back in by my mouth blocked and only my nose, which was already half blocked with dried blood, for air. I felt my legs begin to weaken, and my head drooped, allowing the Death Eaters to half drag, half carry me through the maze of hallways.

Suddenly, I felt myself being pushed into a hard, wooden surface. I struggled weakly, I was this close.

I heard a door close and bodies squeezed me into the narrow space between them. I whimpered silently, closing my eyes tightly as my body protested, sharp bursts of pain coming from my legs, which had been whacked multiple times going up a staircase.

"Sorry for the trouble, Mr Malfoy, we'll leave now."

My eyes opened in shock. That was Lily's voice! I can't give up now! Not now, when I'm this close!

I managed to pry my hand out of the tight corner between the wall and one of the bodies, and ripped the gag out of my mouth.

A hand came up to muffle my voice as I opened my mouth. Perfect.

I bit down hard, the cry of pain echoed, alerting the intruders to our presence.

…Lily's POV…

I looked at James. He was smiling, his smile sceptical to say the least.

"So what was that about your wife away on vacation?"

"I…" Malfoy stuttered, his face growing whiter than his hair, "Please, she'll be killed if I fail."

"Don't lie to me. Who's behind that cupboard door?" James growled, his voice getting more dangerous by the second.

"No-one."

"Really. Lily, keep an eye on him. You too." James said, looking at Shacklebolt.

He went over to the door and opened it.

…Snape's POV…

The darkness behind the blindfold seemed to light up. I grinned behind the hand covering my mouth as I heard the stunning spell cried thrice.

The blindfold was taken off and I saw Potter standing in front of me, clearly trying to mask the fact that he hates me.

He turned back to someone behind him. "So Malfoy, slipped off the tightrope, did we?"

I peered out from behind Potter, then stepping out to stand by Potter's side. I smirked at Malfoy.

Then the party turned around and headed towards the front door. I quickened my pace, not wanting to be left behind.

—+++++—

We had made it. The apparition border was behind us.

Freedom tasted good.

All of a sudden, Shacklebolt whispered something to the others.

Potter turned around. "Sorry, but…"

'You've got to be kidding.' I thought as everything went black.

—

 _Have a great day guys! Hope the chapter was worth waiting for!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters._

—

…Lily's POV…

A scream echoed in the night.

"James."

A loud snore answered me.

"James." I hissed quietly.

"Huh, what?"

Another frantic scream pierced the night.

"Merlin's beard!" James shouted.

We ran to the room we had allocated for Snape.

James quickly took down the wards we had set around the door, and we rushed in.

The man was lying in a layer of sweat, his eyes shut tightly as if blocking out a dreadful sound.

"Snape!" James shouted.

"That's just going to wake the baby up if he isn't already!"

As if in response, a baby started crying two doors away.

"Look what you've done now." I exclaimed, trying to ignore the fact that the screaming would have woken Harry up first. "Look, I'll go calm him down, you try and get Sev- Snape to stop screaming."

"But…"

I left the room, leaving James to fix the problem himself.

…James' POV…

'Sheesh. Women.'

Suddenly, Snape decided to take having a nightmare to the next level. He started thrashing around.

"Snape, I mean Severus, calm down."

However, Severus Snape seemed immune to any call of help and kept thrashing about, strangling himself in the bed sheets.

In a vague hope that I could find something that I could fight with medicine, or whatnot, I went over to the bedside. I stumbled back. The waves of heat were almost as strong as a fire's! Fever.

I pushed the bedsheets to the side, off the thrashing body and pushed Snape down until he was lying flat, back on the bed, his limbs tied down so that I wouldn't have to worry about getting kicked.

Suddenly, Snape's eyes snapped open.

…Snape's POV…

The cuts from the cursed whip were alive, tremors rushing up my spine and all around to stab at my lungs, stomach and any sensitive spot.

My limbs were being tied down, I could feel them, one by one, they restricted any defence, leaving me helpless and vulnerable. Without warning, a thorn of pain struck my heart.

My eyes shot open.

…James' POV…

Snape's breathing was coming in ragged gasps.

"Lily!" I yelled, hoping she would know what to do.

She ran in seconds later, Harry still in her arms, who she gave to me.

Almost immediately, she began cutting the ropes with deft movements of her wand.

"Hey!" I exclaimed as all my hard work was undone.

"Not now James."

Then as soon as she had cut all the ropes, she pushed down on his shoulders, restricting any harmful movement, yet not rubbing or breaking any limbs.

…Snape's POV…

I felt the restraints dropping, like dead snakes sliding off a rock.

Then soft, yet firm hands pushed down on my shoulders.

A vial was pressed to my lips, it's contents slipping down my throat. The liquid flowed through me, numbing the pain until I could see clearly and use my senses.

A mattress supporting me, while smooth bedsheets lay to the side of me. A bright light came from somewhere above me, with a silhouette of two people, side by side, leaning over me.

I groaned as an air bubble moved slowly up my throat. All of a sudden, it released itself and I burped quietly.

I looked over to the people by the side of the bed. Potter, Lily and a baby were looking at me, the baby's eyes wide open, staring at me as if in amazement, hand half in his mouth, half out.

"That's Harry."

I looked up. Lily, fire-red hair flaring in the overhead light, but her green eyes were darker than the last time I had seen her.

She took her hands off my shoulders and took young Potter. I tried siting up, but Potter stepped over to me and pushed me down. I growled at him as he pulled out his wand.

"James." Lily's voice warned.

"If you try anything, Snape, you'll answer to me and a very painful curse." Potter growled, pushing his wand into my throat until I could no longer growl and struggled to breathe. I locked eyes with him, my eyes flaring, yet scared; his brown eyes as dark as maple tree bark, sincere and dangerous.

I fell back, and went limp. There was no point fighting a losing battle.

Potter smiled, obviously pleased with me surrendering, yet his smile was neither warm nor cold. I squirmed uncomfortably, trying to weaken his grip on me.

His other hand moved down to my waist.

"He probably needs his wounds redressed." Potter commented as I whimpered as he moved over a deep scratch.

Lily went out of the room and returned shortly after, without the Potter spawn.

I whimpered again as they vanished the top half of my clothing. Potter pushed down on my waist again, then slowly moved up til his hands rested on either side of my stomach. He linked his hands behind my stomach on my back. Lily began to unroll the dressings, some of them peeling away, leaving a patch of sticky dried blood on my torso.

"He needs a wash." Lily commented as she saw the multiple patches of dried blood.

"Don't worry, we both have done a course of medical training." Lily said as they hauled me over to the bathroom.

—+++++—

…James' POV…

"Snape has woken up. Please take him ASAP. Regards, James Potter." James murmured as he wrote the letter to Dumbledore.

Snape was lying on the ground, a small mattress supporting him, while a thin sheet lay on top of him. Right now, he was staring at the ceiling, occasionally looking around the room to stare at the members of my family.

I tied the letter to the borrowed next door neighbour's owl, and opened the window to let it out.

Lily or me would go outside every 2 days, to collect any letters from their neighbours from the order, who were watching over us, an extra precaution suggested by James and the Longbottom's.

I turned around, ready to grasp the last few hours of sleep, and saw Snape staring at me. His eyes were haunted, black pools threatening to break loose of their dam, yet the waters were still and not a ripple disturbed their inky depths. I shook myself as Snape turned his head to look at Harry. 'What was that?' I thought as I settled down next to Lily. Another voice responded, so soft that my ears strained to hear it. 'Magic.'

—

 _Thank you all for viewing! Plus, thank you all who review! Have a great day!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Hi guys! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I had no internet, but hopefully this chapter should suffice for all the days you guys had to wait._

 _Preview response: Thank you for pointing that out, (guest who pointed out that Harry shouldn't be able to say hi dad), I did mean it as a silent sentence(you know, like a thought portrayed through the eyes), but that's awesome how you gave me constructive critics I'm, it's really helpful! It's always nice to know that if you make a really bad mistake in your writing, like missing a switch in a dark room, you've got someone to shine a flashlight for you._

 _Disclaimer: I own none of the characters._

 _(still James Potter's POV)_

—

The sunlight filtered through the thin curtains draped across the windows. I yawned and got up sleepily. 'Snape seemed to sleep the rest of the night', I thought, 'Lily was right. The screaming must have something to do with being alone.'

'It also seems like Harry slept the night through too.'

The baby had been put in his own room as soon as they had managed to get him to sleep.

I looked over to the part of the bed while Lily slept. It was empty. I rubbed my eyes. It was still empty, a a slight indent in the mattress the only sign anyone had been there. I suddenly felt very awake. My head whipped to the side, focusing on the mattress on the floor that we had dragged in for Snape. It was empty too. My heart thudded. 'If he's done anything to her…'

I grabbed my wand from the bedside, the wards I had placed around it only allowing Lily or me to pick it up still intact. I transfigured my pyjamas into wizard's robes and raced down the stairs, towards the front door.

I hit the bottom of the staircase hard. Suddenly, a baby squeal caught my attention. Harry. I raced towards the sound, wand at the ready.

The smell of frying eggs and bacon flooded my senses. I was facing the living room now, the kitchen to my left, just round a corner. I crept up, I wasn't going to fall for some trap where Snape had set up the smell of fried eggs and bacon to lure me out, only to curse me as soon as I stepped out of cover.

Without warning, another of Harry's squeals broke through the sizzling of the food. I jumped out of cover, bent low to the ground to avoid any curses aimed for my head, a curse ready on my lips. The sight I saw rendered me temporarily speechless and stiff.

Snape was lying on the ground, stomach down, looking very disgruntled, while a squealing Harry climbed all over him. I saw Snape look towards the kitchen. I followed his line of sight and saw Lily, safe, cooking eggs and bacon on the stove. I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed the grip on my wand.

All of a sudden, Lily chuckled. "You won't have to put up with him that much longer Severus, breakfast is nearly ready!"

Snape gave a snort of disbelief and put his head on the floor again, whilst Harry was climbing up onto his head, pulling on Snape's hair like ropes to get to the top. Snape grimaced every time Harry's little hands grabbed a fist of his hair, and the cycle continued. Harry gets a fistful of hair, Snape grimaces, Harry gets higher, Harry grabs another fistful… you get the point. Well, that all stopped as soon as they saw me.

Snape stiffened, Lily turned around and smiled at me and Harry managed to get to the top of Snape's head and grin at me.

"Dada!" Harry squealed happily.

I walked over to Snape, my every step thumping into the wooden floor underneath the light brown carpet in the living room. Snape seemed to sink into the floor as I got closer and closer, until I finally stopped right in front of Snape and Harry. By this time, Harry was gaping up at me like 'Wow Dad, how did you learn to be so scary, but cool?'

I bent down to retrieve Harry from Snape's head. Harry let go with a huge smile on his face, his arms reaching up towards me. I grinned, and hoisted him up onto my shoulders. Harry squealed with delight, his fingers curling around my tousles of black hair.

I looked back down at Snape, who was pushing himself up, his face quivering as if in pain. I placed Harry on the couch next to me, and with a few seconds of thought, helped Snape up onto the couch as well.

Snape dipped his head, as if in thanks. I sat down between him and Harry.

…Snape's POV…

I stiffened automatically, Potter, of all people, was sitting next to me. I tried to relax. I thankful, I am, that he took that boy away from my hair, and helping me up, but I didn't ask for any charity. I didn't need to be protected, I wasn't weak. I tried to stand up, but was greeted by another flash of pain before I even got 3 centimetres up.

"Hey, you've got to just sit down and relax. Dumbledore told us everything" Potter said next to me.

I looked over at him, preparing a face for him to tell him to BACK OFF and that this was a war zone, HELLO, and that he could just go give his charity to someone else. But before I could even get any of those very frustrating thoughts out, another blast of pain raced up my back. I collapsed into the back of the chair, despair taking over. A lone tear tracked its way down my face. 'I'll never be able to do anything. Useless, weak, waste of time…' My head drooped.

I could feel Potter looking at me. I didn't want his pity.

Next thing I know, I felt two arms circling around me. 'This isn't the Potter I know, he should be cursing me right now. Pity again. I hate pity. It reminds me how weak I am, how I can't do anything myself.' I tried to push him away, but my arms collapsed and my body fell limp, the sadness and reminder of weakness flooding me. Tears began to fall more quickly.

"Hey, wow this is awkward." I heard Potter say as he brought me into a hug.

—+++++—

Two to three minutes later, breakfast was ready. Snape had breakfast on the couch; the Potters had breakfast at the table in the dining room, which was, from the bottom of the stairs, to the left of the living room, and in front of the kitchen, in a corner of the house.

—

 _Remember, there is no shipping in this fanfic. I know seems really weird, but James changed, and I also sort of want Snape and Harry to have a sort of friendship, a bit like the one between Sirius and Harry. I like those fanfics._

 _As always, thanks for reviewing and constructive criticism is welcome._

 _PLEASE READ THIS: PLEASE READ THIS: PLEASE READ THIS: PLEASE READ THIS:_

I'm thinking of doing a 'choose your own adventure, in the warding world(you've just graduated). I'd like to make it so you can be either a Muggleborn, Half-blood or Pureblood(no Squibs please). Any ideas would be welcome, and please also state a pen name/internet name, so that I can give a shoutout to you when I release the story.


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters._

 _—_

It had been five days since I had been taken from the Malfoy's.

Today, there would be an order meeting and I would be able to explain the past events to Dumbledore in person. I felt an odd sense of relief and worry. I didn't know how Dumbledore would react. Would he, despite allowing me sanctuary in the Potter's house, he might reconsider and see me as a burden, and send me to Azkaban, or worse, them.

As I shrugged on the borrowed travelling cloak, I heard a sound from behind the door. James Potter. We stayed our distances from each other most of the time. We usually only talked to say 'morning' or 'afternoon', but were forced to say more through Lily's small talk at the dinner or breakfast table.

"Lily's waiting at the front door with Harry." James Potter explained before going down the hallway and stairs to join her. Harry Potter. Now that was a whole other matter all together.

I had managed to get him to stop pulling my hair and swatting my face. Lily had convinced Potter that I could babysit the young Potter all by myself for some reason. Now that was a disaster waiting to happen.

I had managed fine, as we were stuck in one room, as my wounds, even though Lily was able to patch most of them up, were still sore and occasionally cracked if I moved too much. Until Harry Potter decided to disappear around ten minutes of his parents coming home.

I had looked around the house trying to find him, albeit painfully, only to find him stuffing his face near the cookie jar, chocolate staining the area around his mouth. I have no idea how he got up there, the tabletop was too high for a baby to get up, and there were no stools or chairs close by. Troublemaker, just like his father.

I shook my head as I approached the front door. Lily was holding Harry, dressed in a light baby blue robe in her arms; she wore a dark forest green robe with vines of the same colour imprinted on the dress, flowing down from the neck and middle. There also seemed to be small red flowers on the vines, popping out then back into the fabric of the dress. I tore myself away, trying to hide my wistful expression.

James Potter was beside her, holding his invisibility cloak, with a very dark blue robe.

—

We were supposed to be in front of the Order's house. I couldn't see it, of course, I hadn't been given the address, as that made the house even safer, as Voldemort wouldn't have been able to use Legilimency on me.

We started towards where the house was supposed to be, me following Lily and James. I was grateful that Potter had placed an enlarging spell on the invisibly cloak.

A rough, but thin man was waiting outside, who took off his invisibility cloak as soon as James had shot a red spark from his wand, which he had stuck outside of the cloak.

He handed a small piece of parchment to us as soon as James had lifted the invisibility cloak off the front of us, so that others who were behind us still couldn't see us. He asked a few questions to James and Lily, then went into where the house was supposed to be.

I looked at the parchment. 7 Triton Cross.

 _—_

 _For anyone's who is wondering why this specific address, Grimmauld Place still belonged to the Blacks, and Regulus was still in charge of it. 7 is the strongest magical number. Cross sounded like it would fit, and Triton is one of Neptune's moons that orbits backwards, which is interesting, or so I thought._

 _Hey guys, I've got a timetable for myself: every week day(Monday-Friday) I will try to work on a chapter for 30-60 minutes, so you guys should have a chapter every week, unless I'm working on my other story, Snape's True Grey. However, when school starts again, I'll have to see. I might not get chapters up as fast._

 _Cheers, and as always, thank you reviewers! Have a great day everyone!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters._

 _—_

I stood awkwardly at the side, thankfully hidden from the many people who were in the room, greeting each other, and frankly, making a din.

Lily came up to me with a small, but firm woman, light auburn hair tickling her shoulders. She looked like she was not happy to see me, even less, having to talk to me in person.

"Severus Snape, this is my friend, Mary McDonald."

McDonald looked at me, a suspicious frown on her face. Neither of us said anything, just standing staring at the other.

My face was blank, as it usually was when I was using Occlumency, a skill I had learned whilst both growing up, and more fervently when I became a spy for the Order.

"May everyone please make their way to the tables for our meeting." Dumbledore's voice rose over the loud group.

'Saved.'

I made my way over to the table and ended up squished between Lupin and a blond witch. I tried to ignore the werewolf beside me.

"Welcome all. I hope that you are doing as well as you can in these troubled times." Dumbledore's sad, yet calm voice carried around to all of us sitting at the circle of tables.

I could hear murmuring coming from my right, but it abruptly stopped as soon as Dumbledore began speaking again.

"Today we are joined by someone I would like to introduce to you."

Whispers could be heard from all around the room. 'Please not me.' I kept on saying inside my head. I really didn't like being watched by more than a few people, 8 at most; I had nearly died of fright when I was sorted, and to make matters worse this was, in my head, a large crowd.

"Severus Snape. Could you please join me in the middle."

I groaned silently as I got up and entered the ring thought one of the gaps between the tables.

"Mr Snape joined us a few months ago. He was the spy in Voldemort's army."

"Then why didn't you tell us about him before?" A young man, of around 21 piped up. Murmurs could be heard all around the table, while I stared at a speck on the table the man was sitting at.

"Excellent question, Charles. Mr Snape was a Death Eater before he-"

Agitated yells rose from the tables, some people standing up, their wands half raised.

I looked up, and checked that my wand was still safely in my borrowed cloak. It was, thank goodness.

"Dumbledore, he's a Death Eater!"

"You could have just given us a death sentence!"

"We're lucky You-Know-Who hasn't already murdered us all!"

"Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater!"

"He's a sly, slimy snake!"

"He's dangerous, what were you thinking?!"

"Albus, how could you?!"

Dumbledore lifted a hand, and silence came over the room, with a few exceptions. "If he wanted to betray us, he would have done so already."

Loud protests came up, but were quickly quenched by Dumbledore raising his hand again.

"As I have already stated," Dumbledore explained, with a hint of exasperation in his voice, "he was an Order of the phoenix member before I introduced him to you now. If he wanted to destroy us, he would have already done so. His reason is one I trust he will never waver on. I trust Severus Snape with my life." Dumbledore paused, his voice growing deadly. "You will treat him as your equal, or leave this room _now_."

I looked up at Dumbledore, gratitude shining in my eyes. There were no words for how thankful I was.

There was silence. No one left the room, just sat staring at Dumbledore, some with shock other faces; some with disbelief; and some with surprise ruling their expressions.

I snorted in my head. They were all too expressive. They would never last a minute as a Death Eater, much less in Voldemort's inner circle.

One man stood up. Everyone turned to look at him. "I trust your judgement sir. I, for one, will stand by Severus Snape as I would any of the others in this room."

A woman stood up next to him. "I stand by Anthony. I will stand by Severus Snape as I would any of the others in this room."

One by one, everyone stood up, murmuring their agreement.

'Well spoken', I thought, a smile beginning to twist the corners of my mouth. I was safe, where I belonged.

Safe.

 _—_

 _Anyone get the reference to the Round table in Merlin/King Arthur's time? I thought that they should all be represented as equals, as they are all in danger._

 _As always, have a great day and don't let the Wrackspurt's get in your ears!_


	13. Chapter 13: An Unexpected Visitor

_Thank you SternScatten9620 and Eleonora98always for following, appreciate it!_

—

I woke in a dark room. I shifted and took my wand from the bedside table. It was quiet. Too quiet.

I transfigured my night robe into a dark blue that blended into the darkness like the sea melted into the sky on a cloudy night. My wand firmly held in my hand, I cast a 'Silencio' at the door and pushed it slowly open.

I heard an owl hooting from a branch outside. Suddenly, the noise was cut off.

I stiffened. There _was_ something else here, and it didn't want to found.

My spy instincts kicking in, I creeped slowly down the steps of the Order's base, careful to avoid the squeaky step, third from the bottom. I walked over to the kitchen, in a low stoop, my sharp eyes analysing the space around me, watching out for any sign of a intruder.

Without warning, my vocal cords seized up. I shouted to alert the rest of the Order that were in the house. No sound came out. I tried to quench the fear as I spun around.

My wand ripped itself out of my hand and flew towards the intruder.

I darted to the side as a Stunning spell was shot at me. I summoned up my strength and shot a return stunner at the intruder with my hands. Thank Merlin I had decided to learn wandless magic when I became a spy.

The intruder, who had clearly unexpected a spell from a wandless opponent, stumbled to the side and tripped on the floorboards. I shot another stunner at the intruder as they hit the floor. The intruder stopped moving, frozen, as if time had stopped.

I cautiously walked over to where the intruder lay, both wands in their grip. I slipped my wand out of their grasp, un-silenced myself and turned them over.

Potter! I smacked my forehead as quietly as I could. _Potter_ had thought _I_ was the intruder, whilst _I_ thought _he_ was the intruder! 'I'm such and idiot', I thought as I took his wand from his grasp, so that he wouldn't shoot some spell at me when I rennervated him.

I kneeled a fair distance away from Potter as I said in my head 'Rennervate'.

Potter sat bolt upright, looking wildly around, as he saw me, he lunged at me. I sopped him with a silent 'Protego' and 'Silencio'.

He dropped to the floor, disgruntled, but soon recovered and was looking ready to jump again when I said "Potter."

He stopped and looked at me. I used Legitimency on him before he recovered, and not pushing myself into any of his memories, I spoke. "Potter, I am not the intruder, so if you stay quiet so I can find him, I would appreciate it." I withdrew from his mind after that sentence.

He stared at me as I un-silenced him and handed him his wand. Then he pointed to himself, then to me. I shook my head. There was no way I was going to take Potter with me. He had just attacked me, for Merlin's sake! I crouched again, and set off towards the front door, hoping that the intruder hadn't left before I had been able to capture him.

But Potter persisted, following me, even as I made shooing gestures at him. Suddenly, I stopped. Potter bumped into the back of me. I could see an outline of a man near the front door. I frowned. I wouldn't be able to capture the man with Potter continuously waving his hands back and forth.

I sighed quietly. I would have to let Potter come with me. I turned to him and nodded my head, then put a finger on my lips, pointing to the man at the door, who was now turning the handle with deliberate caution.

Potter's eyes suddenly lit up and he made to jump up and confront the man. I grabbed him just before his head rose above the sofa, but not before one piece of his unruly hair had risen above the couch.

Potter looked at me angrily, before creeping towards the staircase, which would be the most likely place the real intruder would be heading. Suddenly, I heard a loud creak from the staircase. The squeaky step. "Hello? I thought I heard-" The voice stopped. The owner had clearly just seen the intruder.

Everything seemed to freeze. I could hear the breathing and beating of my heart.

Then the silence thawed.

"Stupefy!" I heard the man, by the sound of his voice, on the stairs.

"Protego!" I heard a strange, squeaky voice.

"Impedimenta!" I heard Potter yell above me.

"Sectumsempra!" I heard the intruder yell again. Something was familiar about that voice…

"Protego!" I heard Potter yell, his wand pointed towards the stairs.

I froze as I heard Sectumsempra. I hadn't cast that spell, I was still trying to pinpoint the voice. I had only told few people: Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy and Regulus Black.

I slowly raised my eyes above the sofa. I blinked once, then twice.

It was Regulus Black. Blood and water was dripping from his robes.

"Stop!" I yelled. Everyone froze.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice steeled, my wand pointed at him.

"Severus… I…" Regulus began.

"Master Regulus needs help." A hook-nosed house-elf came out from behind Regulus, his eyes bloodshot.

"How did he end up like this?" I asked, my wand still pointed at Regulus, but also twitching towards the house-elf, Kreacher was it?

"Because of this." The house-elf held out a locket.

I brought it drifting over to me with a silent Wingardium Leviosa.

"What is it?"

"It's… a horcrux. One of You-Know-Who's."

I looked up in shock and horror at Regulus, who I could see now was barely standing on his feet.

Without warning, Regulus' knees buckled and he began to fall. I rushed out and slowly lowered him to the ground, taking his wand away from him as soon as he touched the ground.

"What in _Merlin's_ name is going on, Fletcher?"

I turned around.

"I thought Dumbledore told you to-" Sirius Black stopped, his wand in his hand, staring at his brother, ignoring everyone else in the room.

"Bloody- what do _you_ think _you're_ doing here!?" The elder Black shouted, his eyes boring down on his little brother.

—

 _Thanks for reading! School's getting under control now, so I decided to open the dam(of ideas) wall I've been keeping closed(and let me tell you, it was hard)!_

 _I hope everyone reading who is still in school is coping, and everyone who isn't, hope you're coping with your job! As usual, have an awesome day, and I'll see you later!_


	14. Chapter 14: The two brothers

_Thank you for following JamalG, appreciate it! Thanks too, Reviewers!_

 _Sorry it takes so long until the next chapter. Holidays are coming up so I'll be writing more often, but I'll be offline, so as soon as I'm back online I'll post the chapters I've done. Posting fanfiction? After all this time? Always._

The two brothers glared at each other with enough hate to kill a rampaging Hippogriff.

I lowered Regulus' body to the floor, propping him up against one of the nearby couches, whilst trying to keep an eye on the elder Black. Potter too, who was standing slightly behind him.

"I said, _what_ are _you_ doing here?" Black repeated, the last two words yelled.

"I-"

"Why don't you crawl back to mother? I'm sure her _pet_ would get only the best treatment." He put on a fake high-pitched voice, "Oh dear Regulus, what happened? Shush, you don't have to say anything. Mummy's got you…"

"SHUT UP!"

Sirius Black stopped, his eyes glowering down at Regulus.

I tightened my grip on my wand. At the right side of my eye, I could see Potter gripping his wand too.

"I never asked for… Mum… to favour me." Regulus said, defiantly staring up at Black, who was growing steadily closer.

"Yes, you did! You were always sucking up to her! Obeying her every command… like a pet!" Black was clearly raving now.

"I never… really had a choice."

The elder Black looked at his younger brother with disbelief, anger still flaring in his eyes.

"I was taught… only to obey. She cared about you too, Sirius." By this time, he was barely keeping his eyes open. "I kept on coming across her, crying… in front of the family tree."

"You're lying!" Sirius Black yelled, "You were always her pet! She let you off for everything!"

"You never saw." Regulus said, his voice only a whisper. His eyes grew haunted. "Never saw."

His body slumped against the couch. Only the slight fluttering of his chest indicated life.

The house-elf kneeled next to me. I looked at him without moving my head. "Follow me."

Kreacher followed me, lifting Regulus with his magic.

I was racing, grabbing potion after potion from my store cupboards. Regulus lay on the bed that was usually reserved for injured Order members who didn't have enough time to get to St. Mungo's.

The house-elf, Kreacher, was following the instructions I had hastily put in front of him. The scroll showed instructions for each of the potions to be administered, and how much to give to the patient.

Finally, I sat down next to him. I watched Kreacher give the last potions to Regulus before backing away.

I turned around to look at the locket lying on my desk. I went over to it, careful not to touch it, and studied the S that was masterfully woven into the design of the locket.

A soft groan turned me from my study of the necklace. Regulus was stirring. I rushed to his side. His eyes fluttered open.

"The locket…"

"It's safe." I replied, gently pushing the Black back down onto the bed.

"You did well Kreacher."

Kreacher's eyes lit up with the compliment. "Kreacher is happy to help Master Black!"

"For the trilithon time Kreacher, you can call me Regulus."

"Sorry Mas- Regulus." Kreacher frowned in concentration as he said it, as if it were a strange, foreign language.

"I'm surprised you even made it this far. With the wards and all. I saw the Order put up the Fidelius Charm." I asked. As far as I was concerned, I hadn't known that anyone was allowed outside without the address being obliviated and replaced with the address of the door next to us. The only ones that were allowed outside with their memory intact were the children under 10 years and the members who had sworn the unbreakable vow with Dumbledore not to speak the address to anyone else. Lily and James Potter were two of them.

"I didn't encounter any problems getting here."

"Then you must've heard it somewhere." I put my hands on either side of Regulus' shoulders, my voice slowing and becoming venomous. "Who told you the address."

Regulus flinched at hearing the tone. The last time he had heard me talk to him like that was when he had said the 'm' word, not long after Lily had taken her friendship away from me. "I swore under the unbreakable vow never to tell anyone their name. So, I'll tell you now that the person who betrayed you was a rat."

I looked at him, and when his eyes didn't flicker with the tell-tale of a lie, I took my hands off the sides of the medical bed. 'The Unbreakable Vow? The Dark Lord must be smarter than I thought. Well, judging from after I handed information to the Order for two months.' I shook my head slightly.

"Albus Dumbledore will be coming tomorrow. You're well enough to speak now. I'll take him to you tomorrow, and don't you think of running away." I summoned a sheet and took another medical bed from the side of the room. "Kreacher will stay the night with you, but I will keep your wand as well as a close eye on you, so don't think of going outside this room."

"And will my jailer allow me to eat and drink?" Regulus grinned at me.

"It's not that harsh. But, yes, breakfast will be at 6.30 am and here's a drink of water if you feel the need, just not too much. The bathroom is over there", I pointed to my left and placed down the summoned glass and water. I frowned. "For no reason will you leave this room unless to go to the bathroom. Keep these rules and you might survive the night."

"Five nights at Freddy's." Regulus whispered under his breath to Kreacher.

"Excuse me?" I said, one eyebrow raised. I hadn't known that Regulus would have cared to listen to the Muggle children brag about how far they had got in the game.

"When you have a brother who wants to give your pureblood crazy mother a heart attack, you can't help but watch snippets of it. Once he fell off his chair and nearly burnt down the table due to his magic."

I snorted quietly. Trust Regulus to remember his brother's worst moments.

"Just stay here."

"Yes boss."

I rolled my eyes. "Goodnight, Regulus."

"Goodnight, Severus."

 _Well there's another chapter! Hope its long enough (which it's probably not) for you readers._

 _Well, have a great day and I'm looking forward to all the reviews I get._


	15. Chapter 15: Attack or Evacuate?

_Thank you for following Severinus, ohinyan, vani12 and PushyHerpetologistsAskingForIt, appreciate it! Thanks too, Reviewers!_

"Severus." I looked at the tree in astonishment. Was it talking to me?

"Severus." It sounded so urgent too. I looked away from it to see Lily and her sister playing on the playground. I stepped out from the bushes towards the sisters and suddenly, the scene changed. People in black robes began emerging from the far bushes and behind trees. A 11-year-old Lily looked around and saw me, crying in desperation, "SEVERUS!"

I woke with a start, my forehead hitting something hard and bony. My head exploded in pain and I lay down again, closing my eyes and trying to block the pain by practising my Occlumency. The pain began to ebb away, and I was able to open my eyes again without seeing lights. I slowly sat up, looking around for what I had hit my head on.

A man was half lying, half siting, groaning on the floor, holding and rubbing his chin with his right hand in pain.

I slid off the bed and looked at the man on the floor. It was Remus Lupin.

"Remus?" I asked, kneeling beside him. I was on first name terms with Remus after Lily had forced all of the Marauders to apologise to me, and me to them 'for cursing and jinxing them too', or so she said. However, the same was still to be said for Potter, Black, and Pettigrew, who had just sat there, apologising to his feet.

"Remus, are you okay?"

"I've been better, but yes." Remus paused then looked up at me, frowning, "There's been an attack on the street, Death Eaters are surrounding the house as if they know it's there but can't see it, and there's one in the basement which keeps looking at me as if he's allowed to be here and I'm here to maim him."

"He is allowed to be there." I replied, watching Remus' face.

"What!" Remus shouted, looking at me with his 'explain' face.

"I don't imagine Black has told you-"

"No, he hasn't"

I continued as if I hadn't been interrupted. "He's Sirius' brother. The younger one, Regulus. He came last night with his house elf-"

"I was wondering what that pile of sheets was next to him. I was sure there was something under it, but as soon as I got close, I was blocked by some shield." Remus muttered, seemingly to himself, but simultaneously cutting through my explanation.

"Remus." I called exasperatedly but still kept my voice at a low level.

"Sorry." He said, motioning me to continue.

"As I was saying," I looked at him pointedly, "He arrived here last night. Some might say I'm exaggerating, but I think he was only steps away from being on the brink of death. I took him down here and healed him, at least, as much as I could at the time."

"Why was he here in the first place?" Remus interrupted yet again.

"Can you please save your questions until after I've finished, or at least say 'excuse me'?"

Remus looked very sheepish. "So, excuse me?"

I sighed. "Yes, what's your question?"

"Why was Regulus Black here?"

"He came here because he had just stolen a horcrux. He says it is You-Know-Who's."

"Excuse me? He has horcruxes?!"

"Apparently so." My gaze turned dark as I thought how many, and how terrible each of the Dark Lord's horcruxes were.

"Severus?"

I shook my head to snap out of my brooding. "Yes?"

"About the Death Eaters outside…"

I groaned. 'Life just seems to get better and better.' I though sarcastically to myself. "How many of us are here?"

"Roughly about 15, not including Regulus Black. You, me, Padfoo- Sirius, Peter was here but no-one can find him, Frank and Alice, Anthony, Elaina, Jay, Dylan and Angela, Ebony and Cody, Ashley, and Oliver. James left after morning broke to go check on Lily and Harry, and Fletcher had some business to tend do."

"How many Death Eaters outside?"

"At least double or triple our number, but I could have sworn I saw some more in the shadows." Remus replied.

"Okay. Get everyone to gather down here. I can also ask Regulus how he was able to see the house, as he was a Death Eater." I looked at Remus.

"I was wondering about that. And… was a Death Eater?"

"Oh yeah," I sarcastically replied, "You-Know-Who probably wants him to help raid because it doesn't matter if he just stole a horcrux."

Remus looked on the verge of slapping his forehead.

Soon everyone, even Pettigrew, had gathered below in the dungeons to discuss what to do next.

Once everyone had sat in what resembled a circle, a silence fell as the mixture of faces turned towards me.

"There are Death Eaters outside. We need to decide if we are to leave or defend the house."

Worried stares met me.

I continued, "Personally, I think that it would be better if we just abandon the base and set up camp elsewhere."

Elaina spoke up. "But what about the files, of both our past and future attack and defence plans? Not to mention your potions. Just leaving them here for the Death Eaters to take and use doesn't sound like it would help the Order leaving any of said things here."

I nodded at the Ravenclaw as she finished, happy that someone was thinking about what we would have to do if we did choose to abandon the house.

"The files can be put into transfigured backpacks," I answered her, "and as for my potions, I plan to collect as many as I can and either hide the rest or pour them down the drain. I will try to save as many as I can, but it's unlikely that I will be able to keep all of them."

"Traitor!" A call sounded.

I turned to the left of me, and four people away was Pettigrew.

"Traitor!" He shouted at me again, looking distressed and angry.

I looked at him in shock for a few seconds, then shook myself mentally before speaking. "And why, Mister Pettigrew, do you think I'm a traitor?" I said, trying to ignore the prod at my heart that usually came when one had just been falsely accused.

"Where do you actually go when you tell Dumbledore that you're going to get potions ingredients? You seem to run out of them very quickly, enough to report the comings and goings of the Order! And now, you obviously plan to leave your potions behind for the Death Eaters!"

"I go to where I say I go, the apothecary. As for me reporting to You-Know-Who," I responded coolly, but the reins of my temper were starting to slip, my voice slowly turning into a low, deadly hiss. "In case you've forgotten that once I was discovered as the _Order's spy_ , I was tortured. I do not want to ever repeat this again. I will pour the potions that I cannot take with me down the drain if you don't want them _left out for the Death Eaters_. And don't think I haven't noticed, _Pettigrew_ , that you go out weekly as well, to supposedly _visit your family_ , of whom I've found in the newspapers to be Muggles-"

"What does it matter?" Pettigrew shouted at me, standing up to look down on me, yet betraying a flicker of fear in his eyes.

I slowly stood up, my wand in hand. Several people gasped, and some began to rise, pointing their wands at me.

"You didn't let me finish." I moved into the middle of the circle, as to get a better look at Pettigrew. "Muggles." I said slowly, "dead by five weeks gone."

Everyone turned to Pettigrew, who had suddenly realised just how bad an idea it was to accuse Severus Snape of a faulty accusation that belonged to yourself. His eyes grew larger.

"I don't know how you correspond with the dead, _Pettigrew_ , but I would very much like to hear whatever you've made up."

He opened his mouth.

"Not to mention," I added, "I've checked with the men who look after the graves, as I like to visit my mother every second week, and they said that I've been the only one to come to the cemetery in four weeks."

Pettigrew started to speak, then pulled out his wand.

"Expelliarmus!" I shouted.

The wand shot out of his hand and its owner was thrown back against the side wall.

I looked around to see everyone else's wand ends glowing slightly as well.

"What do we do now, Severus Snape?" Cody looked at me.

The rest of the Order turned to me, as one would to a leader, and I felt a sense of pride swell in me.

"We evacuate."

This ^ indicates a start/end/presence of a dream in the text. (Because it looks like a star- which relates to night; when most of us sleep.)

There you go – the longest chapter I've ever written! Hope you enjoy it!

Silly rat, thinking he could outsmart a snake. Wink, wink.

Have a great day and keep on Pottering/Snaping… or whatever.


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